In an exchange in an earlier diary of mine I think Phillyfilly hit on something that would, in my view, be an effective and positive critique of Bush foreign policy, particularly on Iraq and the failed War on Terror.
It draws from Gen. Clark's formulations of the strength of the United States, the method to project that strength and the belief in the strength of America, its systems, its fundamental goals and beliefs.
For background, I refer you to my previous diary of today -
http://armando.dailykos.com/story/2004/4/7/154922/9980 -
where I discuss a Clark article he worte in 11/03 on Iraq.
Fundamentally, the critique is this - Bush has underestimated American strength - by relying exclusively on military power, Bush has wasted our larger overarching strengths - political, economic, diplomatic and alliance-based. Bush simply believed that we could not persuade the world, or more particularly, our allies, to join us in our global War on Terror.
Of course, the reason he believed this is a fundamental distrust of American ability to project power in non-military ways on a global scale. That is, he thought less of America's power than we really had.
Now those are pretty words that do not necessarily project well in a political campaign. However, I do think it can be boiled down to some fairly effective phrases.
Bush does not believe in America.
Bush doubts America.
Bush Makes America Less Safe Because He does not believe in America.
Mr. Bush, Trust America.
Of course, this does fly in the face of Hofstader's famous formulation of the "Paranoid Style in American Politics" but as Dems we must fight that mistaken notion of security, of well being.
With the hispanic vote becoming more and more significant, I believe this to be a theme that can provide benefits on many fronts. Potential downside, outsourcing, trade issues. Does this blunt that critique? ( Full disclosure, I'm not much of a fan of that critique, feels fairly empty to me.)
Most importantly, it provides both a critique and the makings of a success strategy for Dems to present to the American people.